General tw because 99.9% of my OCs have messed up backstories. There's mentions of... a lot of things in here. (Murder, death, etc).
Cherry Bomb; she/her. MTF trans, polyamorous panromantic lithosexual. Currently 14 in this, 15 in the mainverse. Two-individual protogenic system with her boyfriend, Lingyun; e/em, demiboy, lesbian. 15 in this, 16 in the mainverse.
Leo; she/they/it. Intersex, transfeminine, genderflux, polyam, omniromantic autoromantic, omnisexual autosexual. Self-partnered. Eternally 15. Do not ship it with anyone except itself. (Leo considers themself a parental figure to the individuals she takes in and/or rescues; most of those individuals choose to repay the favor by becoming apart of her organization, where she rescues mistreated/abused children and kills very, very bad individuals. Also, given the fact that it's stuck at the emotional, physical, and mental age of a 15 y/o, a relationship with them would be... short-lived, and toxic given the dynamic Leo has with the ones closest to her.)
Coralina; cora/lina/linaself. Non-binary xenogender, polyam panromantic abrosexual. 14 here, 15 in the mainverse. Good to ship with anyone but Leo.
Candy; pronounfluid (mostly he/him or she/her). Genderfluid, monopoly bisexual. 14 here, 15 in the mainverse. Good to ship with anyone but Leo.
Chloé; mai/mim/mair. Intersex, transfeminine, ambiamorous demiromantic bisexual. Good to ship with anyone but Leo.
That's about all the context you're gonna get, sorry
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“Best agents,” she called them. “My most loyal kids, my secret weapons-- together, you three will never fail.”
Cherry couldn’t help but feel a spike of jealousy.
The Leo turned its head to Cherry with a small smile. They were sitting on top of their desk, one leg pulled closer to its chest than the other. Her elbow rested on her knee, arms crossed.
Its face suddenly split from ear to ear, a sharp and delicious grin taking over its cheeks. The pure whiteness of her eyes illuminated her dark skin. The glow made Cherry squint, and those iris-less, pupil-less eyes pointed directly at her made her fingertips buzz with excitement.
“Do you understand what I’m asking you, Cheungang?”
“‘Course, boss. Haven’t failed you yet, have I?”
“Your missions so far have only been to blow up bastards. This is a rescue mission, and those are… far more delicate than your little kill count. It’s also the first time you’ll be working with my other Girls.” Leo’s human-esque eyes returned. With the cull of the glowing white light, shadows evolved them.
Cherry’s boss sighed. “You must work with them, bǎobǎo, not against.”
Bǎobǎo. Cherry’s always kept fidgeting when Leo spoke Chinese to her-- she knew Cherry had only known one other Chinese-speaker her entire life (the grandmother that raised her). It was nice, to hear her language again.
But that wasn’t just it. Bǎobǎo meant “baby.”
Cherry knew that Leo must mean it as a parental figure. That notion was stupid, because Leo was only two years older than her when they came in, ice blazing, with a head of black goop.
Bǎobǎo was also used by couples.
The Leo had saved her, and Cherry loved her in turn.
Cherry tried to laugh it off. “I can handle some tweens, L--”
“Chenguang P. Bompella.” At the coldness in her voice, Cherry shivered. “These are not just some tweens. They’re your age, and they’re some of the best Girls I’ve got. They’ve been here longer than you and know these types of missions better. You’ll have to listen to whatever they say.”
“... Fine. Sure, whateva, I don’t care. It’s not about me, it’s about… uh...”
Leo sighed. “It’s about Chloé Anouilh.”
“Right!” Cherry smirked stupidly. “It’s about whoeva this Chloe kid is.”
“Chloe Anouilh is a spirit. Mai’s been wreaking havoc in Strasbourg, France, since mair death. You need to protect mim and stop mair from hurting anyone.” Leo suddenly jumped off their desk. “Your commanders have more information. We’ve already kept them too long.”
“Wait, Leo, please, just a few more seconds--”
“Stalling is a terribly unattractive trait.” Leo bit. With a sigh, the creature reached out to Cherry Bomb, and pulled lightly on her suspenders. “It’s time, shǎguā.”
Leo pulled her hand back and Cherry tried to lurch for it, but its hand was already raised in the air, and a snap sounded in the girl’s ears.
“Leo!”
Cherry snapped open her eyes. She found herself in a completely new place. It was dawn here, pink and orange slipping into the dark sky. She felt metal beneath her feet.
“Is this-- the fucking Effiel Toa?!”
“Meu docinho!” Leo exclaimed, pulling two others into a hug. She pulled away, and a combination of weird hisses, clicks, and hand movements came out of her. Even more strangely, one of the others seemed to completely understand her. They giggled like it was a normal term of endearment in their language.
It was hard to explain the newcomers. The one who was apparently fluent in clicks and hisses was black, with bright blue-gray eyes and dark ginger hair. Frizzy bangs lined their forehead, tufts of hair spat out from behind their ears, and the rest was tied into an amatuer ponytail. They were wrapped in a snug sweater, ⅓ yellow and ⅔s dark blue like a baseball T, with sparks of white scattered randomly. Cherry couldn’t make out their pants or shoes, since the entirety of their lower half was cloaked by a green blanket. Their wheelchair glimmered in the sunrise.
The second was lightly brown-skinned, with a ruffle of burgundy feathers on their ears. The color matched that of the wings that went from their arms to their hips, like the weird flaps of a flying squirrel, except red and feathery. Their long, brunette hair was tied in a waterfall hairstyle, the type with a small ponytail at the center of the braid. Cherry didn’t like the way their brown eyes turned into slits when they watched Cherry. All they wore was a baggy white tank top and black jorts.
Wow, such fashion icons! Cherry thought bitterly.
“Leo,” the other smiled, “I missing you.”
“We both do,” said the kid with sharp pupils.
Leo chuckled. Cherry wondered if she heard a hint of awkwardness in it.
Leo looked over their shoulder at Cherry. “Kids, this is who you’ll be working with today.”
“They pink!” the ginger laughed.
Cherry blushed. She was suddenly very self-conscious about her dyed hair. Actually, she was feeling shy towards everything about her-- it was too unkempt! Her white shirt, the collar lopsided and a few buttons not in the right button holes; her brown suspenders, except the right suspender was snapped in half and dangled from her belt; the golden-brown cargo pants that barely held all her stuff; dark combat boots, except the bottoms lit up in a flash of colors like light-up sneakers; and, of course, all the scars and burns on her body, scarcely bandaged by stickers instead of band-aids. And that’s not even counting her Boston accent!
“So what if my hair’s pink?!” she growled.
“Play nice,” Leo chided.
The feathered kid looked Cherry up and down, and cracked a smirk. “Leo, did you pick us because we all wear ponytails?”
“Excuse me if I like my teams to compliment each other.”
The asker chuckled in reply.
“Now listen up, Girls, I may not feel time, but I depend on it. Candy, Coralina, this is Cherry Bomb, she/her. Cherry, the ginger’s Candy-- currently he/him-- and the other’s Coralina, cora/lina.”
“Nice meeting you,” Candy said. Coralina nodded next to him.
“Yeah,” Cherry mumbled. “Sure.”
“Aight, I’ve gotta go, kiddos!” Leo stepped closer to the tower’s railing. “You know who’s in charge.” They said, as they zapped on top of the protective fence between the tower and sure death. “Good luck.”
It gave one last grin to the three of them. “I’ll be watching~.” And, just like that, it fell.
All were silent, but nobody ever heard Leo’s body plat on the ground. Silence still took the team. Eventually, Cherry curled to her knees, waiting.
“So,” Coralina began, “what are you, Cherry Bomb?”
“Ah-- I’m a Diàn mǔ háizi.”
“What language that?” Candy asked.
Cherry Bomb noted Candy’s broken English before answering. “Chinese. It means I’m a child auf the lightning motha. My species was named afta Dianmu, Chiah’s goddess of lightning.”
Coralina nodded. “Aren’t you guys… I don’t know, a counterpart species?”
“Yup. A Diàn mǔ háizi is always born with a Léigōng háizi inside their veins.” Cherry shrugged her shoulders. “E’s name is Lingyun. E/em.”
“Alright, so, your sibling--”
“Husband,” Cherry corrected. “Lingyun’s my husband.”
Coralina’s brow raised. “How old are you again?”
“Fourteen. Marriage is a social construct, so I’m gonah use that to my advantage.”
“Okay, then! Lingyun. Where is em?”
Cherry tapped her chest. “E’s listening in.”
“Oh, you meant-- literally inside-- alright.”
Cherry looked away. “What are you guys?”
“I’m a harpy. Candy’s merfolk.”
That explains the wings and the wheelchair.
----------- Fin. (for now) -----------